Amourshipping: Love is Permanent
by Nathan The AmourShipper
Summary: Ash is stuck during his 8th gym battle rematch, desperate for inspiration, he turns to Serena, all of his worries seem to melt away as he finds her eyes inspire a new passion inside of him, has love finally broken through the dense surface of Ash's mind or is it just a coincidence, is it even love... Rated T to be safe. Contains Amourshipping
1. Chapter 1- A Rematch

**After a brutal defeat at the hands of the Snowbelle City Gym Leader Wulfric and a re-ignition of passion, our heroes return to the Gym where Ash is determined to claim his eighth and final Kalos League gym badge permitting him entry into the Kalos Pokemon League, can he overcome his final obstacle…**

 _Snowbelle City Gym:_

 _Pokemon Trainer Ash Ketchum VS Gym Leader Wulfric_

"This battle will be a 3 on 3 Pokemon battle, the battle will be over when either trainer's Pokemon are all unable to continue. Furthermore only the challenger is permitted to make substitutions throughout the match" The official announced.

To his left, the challenger who a matter of days ago had been annihilated at the hands of the gym leader, Ash Ketchum.

Over to his right, the gym leader; Wulfric, a formidable powerhouse in battle and out of hit, his Pokemon only demonstrated the same brute force and sheer determination that made him one of the toughest gym leaders around, as gym leader, he threw his first Pokemon out.

"Stand by for battle, Bergmite" The Ice Chunk Pokemon stood there, watching Ash.

Ash looked down, Pikachu had jumped off from his shoulder, he wanted to battle,

"You wanna battle buddy?" he looked at the electric mouse.

"Pika...Pika" despite not knowing exactly, Ash had a good grip on what his partner had said, quite simply; "yes".

"OK, I choose you, Pikachu"

"Pikachu, Iron tail"

"Dodge it Bergmite" The Ice Chunk Pokemon swiftly skated on the ice, avoiding the hit.

"Icy wind Bergmite" it obeyed, the wind colliding with Pikachu hitting it to the ground.

"Pikachu, get up! And use thunderbolt!" Pikachu jumped to its feet and sent the charge into the Bergmite.

Ash could see that the Bergmite was struggling after all, this was the same blast that could send a group of grown adults into the sky in the space of a hit, he took his chance…

"Volt tackle!" Pikachu acknowledged his trainer and made his move; "Pika Pika Pika...Chuuu" the move smashed into the Bergmite, sending him to the floor, amazingly he stood up.

"That's Bergmite's special ability, sturdy, allowing for him to just hang on!" Clemont informed Bonnie (his hyperactive sister) and Serena (their other travelling partner) the honey blonde just stared at Ash, she hoped he would win, she felt her hands almost subconsciously touch the blue ribbon that Ash had given her as a present, all that time ago at the pledging tree.

"Bergmite use Rapid spin" his voice dominated the arena, bringing Ash and the groups focus back to the battle at hand

"Pikachu dodge and use Iron tail, then use thunderbolt!" Ash commanded, Pikachu obeyed, swiftly jumping before slamming his metallic tail onto the bergmite before hitting it with a powerful thunderbolt, feinting it.

"Bergmite is unable to battle, so the winner of this round is Pikachu" The official confirmed.

"Alright Pikachu!" Ash was happy, he had knocked out one of Wulfric's Pokemon, but he knew he still had two powerful Pokemon remaining.

"Go Avalugg" He commanded, sending out the Iceberg Pokemon

"Pikachu can you carry on?" he looked at his partner for a response, his partner nodded and gave a determined look back to him, indicating he could.

"Avalugg use Avalanche" he issued the command, causing the downpour of ice and snow onto Pikachu who couldn't escape in time, Avalugg looked slow, but it's moves were anything but.

"Pikachu, are you OK?" the electric mouse pulled itself up "Use thunderbolt!" Ash continued the thunderbolt hit directly, obviously causing some pain, but Avalugg shrugged it off

"Use Stone Edge, now!" the stones erupted underneath, sending Pikachu up into the air, coming smashing back down, he had fainted.

"Pikachu is unable to battle, the winner is Avalugg!" the official confirmed.

 _Please Ash pull through, for me?_ Serena thought to herself, looking down at her ribbon, fiddling with it again, she was hoping that he would pull through, if not for her than for his Pokemon who he had trained extensively for a prolonged amount of time.

Bonnie was getting upset as well, she knew that Ash had been working hard, she looked at Serena as well, she understood that Serena had a crush on him, but she also understood that she was travelling with Ash who was about as dense as could be, and her brother, for all his intelligence with inventions, she couldn't fathom how Clemont couldn't see Serena's love for Ash, but at her age, Bonnie just assumed that boys just weren't as good at understanding emotions as girls were.

"I choose you, Talonflame!" Ash sent out the scorching Pokemon, "use Flame Charge!" he commanded, he knew that with the speed increase from flame charge giving speed to the already lightning fast Pokemon would give Avalugg little chance, at the same time doing super effective damage to it.

"Use Stone Edge" Wulfric countered almost immediately, the stones began to form under the bird, thankfully, Ash's increased speed tactic had worked, meaning that the stones couldn't keep up, and talonflame was undamaged.

"Use Brave Bird, whilst your using it, use flame charge at the same time!" Ash commanded, it was a risky move which could do more damage than good, but he wanted to end this, he knew the effects of flame charge would only last a small while.

Brave bird coloured Talonflame a dark blue colour, before being ignited by the flame charge, it was coming at Avalugg with unheard of speed, striking the target with some force.

The contact was unmistakable, the next thing that was seen was Avalugg slumping to the floor, knocked out.

"Avalugg is unable to battle, the winner is Talonflame!" the official confirmed.

"Alright Talonflame!" Ash exclaimed, the look of ecstasy on his face was unmistakable, one more Pokemon left, he knew the battle was only getting started.

Wulfric stared at Ash and acknowledged his progress; "you have gotten much stronger since the last battle, I'm impressed, but that doesn't mean I won't slow down."

Ash smirked before responding; "good, I wouldn't have it any other way, the stronger our opponent, the stronger we get!" Talonflame joined with excitement.

"Go Abomasnow!" he commanded, the forest tree Pokemon emerged, eager to avenge its defeat to Hawlucha in the previous battle.

"Use Blizzard!" he commanded, almost a recreation of the opening to Ash's last battle, he knew how tough this had just become.

"Use flame charge one more time!" Ash commanded, this time Wulfric was ready:

"Sidestep it and use wood hammer as it passes!" Ash couldn't stop Talonflame in time as the powerful Pokemon smashed his Talonflame into the ground, knocking it out.

"Talonflame is unable to battle, the winner is Abomasnow!" the official announced.

"OK, my last chance, Greninja! I choose you!" Ash exclaimed, the water Pokemon stood in a familiar ninja-esque pose, waiting for it's trainer's command.

"Greninja use double team then water shuriken!" Ash commanded, as the various forms of his Pokemon formed and surrounded the Abomasnow before unleashing the water shuriken hitting it directly, forcing the mighty Pokemon to stumble, but stood up.

"OK, enough games, Abomasnow... Mega evolve!" the keystone began to react with the abomasite, causing the Pokemon to reach a new stage of evolution, he continued; "use energy ball" the green ball was hurled at Greninja, Ash was ready

"Jump over it Greninja!" he beckoned to his Pokemon, which obliged, "Use aerial ace!" the Pokemon followed its orders and struck the Pokemon, doing little damage. Unlike mega evolution, going 'in sync' with Greninja couldn't be ordered, it sort of came naturally to the pair, worried Ash looked around for inspiration, when he saw it; _Serena._

Ash felt a new passion burn inside of him as he looked into her ocean blue eyes, she was beautiful, wait, _beautiful?_ Ash had caught himself using this foreign word to describe her, now he thought about it, he was right, her honey blonde hair, her sparkling blue eyes, she made him feel warm inside, unleashing new passion, new determination, did he like her _as more than a friend?_ Ash found himself questioning himself about his interests in his friend, he had always preferred speaking to her over Clemont and Bonnie for that matter. He quickly came to the conclusion he would think about it later, first he had a badge to win…

"Greninja use water shuriken" the pokemon obliged, sprinting towards the opposition before barraging it with hits, making it stumble, when Ash felt it, he was going 'in sync' he looked at Greninja he was changing too.

 _Please Ash, finish this, I can't stand the thought of you losing, I hate seeing you hurt and suffer like that, please._ Serena controlled herself, reasserting herself back to watching Ash's battle hoping someone had heard her.

"Ah, I have wanted to see this form!" Wulfric admired the changes.

"I can show you after you give me my badge!" Ash replied before continuing, "double team and then ariel ace!" the pokemon obliged, surrounding Abomasnow again before hitting it, Ash was certain this battle was close to finishing.

"Abomasnow use energy ball with everything you have!" Wulfric cried out to his Pokemon! The large green ball came flying at Greninja, Ash was ready again.

"Use cut to slice through the energy ball before using cut on Abomasnow!" he told his Pokemon, following through as the energy ball sliced into two pieces, Greninja followed up on the Abomasnow, knocking it out.

"Abomasnow is unable to battle, the winner is Greninja, therefore, the winner of the battle is Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town!"

His friends came down from the stands to congratulate him, to his surprise, Pikachu could tell that his trainer wasn't happy as he should have been for winning his final badge as Wulfric gave him his eighth badge, the iceberg badge, as his friends walked out, Ash looked at Pikachu, and asked his companion; "why are you looking at me like that?" he asked leading to Pikachu responded; "Pika Pika?" Ash understood vaguely that his partner had figured out what he had been thinking about during the battle... _Serena..._


	2. Chapter 2- A Feeling

_**After his successful rematch against the Snowbelle City Gym Leader Wulfric, Ash is beginning to contemplate his feelings that drove his passion back into the match, saving him from a potential defeat.**_

 _Serena… Why is all I can think about her? Sure, she is a great friend... Friend? That doesn't stick, crush? I don't know, after all of my travels, Unova, Sinnoh, Hoenn, Johto and Kanto, I have been with so many girls, none have made me feel this way before, I can't get her out of my mind!_

"Ash, what do you think?" Serena quizzed, drawing a uncharacteristic blush from him for a change.

"Sorry, I wasn't listening" Ash blushed, worried that he missed out on a important question

"No worries, we were just asking if you wanted to get some ice cream to celebrate!" Bonnie replied, taking notice of Ash's blush directly from Serena's question, despite being young, she was very coherent in the subject of love.

"Erm… OK, I don't mind getting some if you want it" he replied, hoping he could spend some time either with Serena or by himself, either way he could understand his feelings better.

Ash spent the rest of the walk in silence, limiting himself to grunts of yes or no depending, leaving the group, more specifically Serena to begin to worry, offering Ash ice cream after obtaining a badge would normally make him ecstatic.

 _Whats wrong with him? He just won a badge_ _ **and**_ _he's getting ice cream, yet he's upset, I wonder if it's something I said? Please no, I don't want to hurt him…_ Serena felt a tear roll down her cheek at the thought of upsetting Ash, quickly rubbing it to make sure nobody saw it, she plastered on a smile to reinforce that notion.

Ash sat there, looking into his ice cream, searching it for help, help which wouldn't come, these feelings were getting serious, he couldn't ignore them; _I mean she is super kind and caring, and I get lost in her eyes, they trap me, I don't_ _ **know!**_ _I have always seen her as more than a friend, a sister? No that isn't right, what is it!_

Again Ash's track of mind was broken by someone else's concern, this time Clemont, the lumiose blonde tilted his glasses, making sure he was seeing correctly, Ash wasn't eating his ice cream

"Are you feeling OK Ash?" he asked, with a prominent sense of sarcasm but still letting onto his sense of worry for his friend, no, his inspiration to be the best gym leader he could be.

"Yeah, of course, I'm just so psyched for the Kalos league, I was just over thinking" he lied, he hadn't even thought about the league, he was just wondering about his emotions before being snapped out of it by the ice cream melting down his wrist.

The group walked over to the Pokemon centre, where Clemont had offered to train with Ash, to the surprise of everyone he declined;

"No, sorry I'm not really feeling up for it, and besides I want all of my Pokemon ready to train not just Hawlucha and Noivern" again he lied, he didn't want to lie to his friends, but he just didn't know what else to do.

 _OK, that's it, I could believe that he may have been focused on the Pokemon League, but saying that and then refusing to train, even with only 2 Pokemon, that never stopped him before…_ Serena was worried, then the thought dawned on her, maybe it was her fault… _did I say something out of turn? Did he notice me blush at him?_ All of these thoughts engrossed her, leaving her immobilized by worry, she ran to her room, preventing the rest of the group from seeing her emotions…

"Brother, I'm going to go to Serena and my room, OK?" Bonnie had noticed Serena's sudden moment of upset and worry and wanted to check on her.

"OK Bonnie, I'm going to work on some inventions, please don't bother Ash, he is obviously annoyed, give him some time, he does seem seems rather… distracted?" her blonde brother replied.

Bonnie ran up the stairs of the Pokemon centre, until she came to room 13 that she and Serena had taken, knocking before she walked in...

"Serena… are you OK?" she asked as calmly as she could, knowing that the likelihood would be that Serena was upset.

 _Oh no, Bonnie's here, maybe she would believe I'm just tired… yes! That's a great idea Serena!_

"Hi Bonnie! I'm just a little tired, it has been a long day" she lied, sure, she _was_ upset, but Bonnie after all was just a little girl, she shouldn't be put through the troubles of her emotions.

"Are you sure? It seems to me that you are upset about something… Ash?" she teased, unaware of the consequences of the small jab she had taken at Serena.

"N...no it's nothing" she was holding back the tears, sniffling louder than she wanted to.

Bonnie began to walk closer to Serena who had turned to look out of the window, diverting her view from Bonnie out onto the battlefield where two trainers were practicing.

"Don't come closer…please!" she cried out to the small girl, who stared at her, watching her friend break down into tears.

"Serena… please, I won't tell anyone, what's the matter, was I right, is it Ash?" she said soothingly whilst rubbing Serena's back in an attempt to calm her down.

"I can't, I love him, I dream about us, yet he never notices me and when I saw he was upset, I… I thought I had done it to him, I never want to feel that way ever, now I think he doesn't love me…" she sobbed, saying more than she knew she should have to the little girl.

 _Should I tell her that Ash blushed when she spoke to him? Does that even mean he loves her, maybe she did annoy him? I probably shouldn't get her hopes up I guess._ "Well, Serena if you want to see if he 'hates' you then why don't you ask him for a battle, if he doesn't like you he probably wouldn't battle?

Serena sat there for a second, contemplating her idea before nodding in agreement, maybe she could find some answers.

 _She is so beautiful, I can't go much longer without telling her how I feel, but what if, what if she rejects me, tells me she just wants to be friends, I couldn't deal with the pain, even the thought makes me upset… I need an excuse to see her, urgently but how?_

"Hey Ash! I know you said you didn't want to battle, but how about a little fun practice, one on one?"

Ash couldn't believe his luck, and immediately said he would gladly battle Serena, by this time, Clemont had seen the two girls running out and offered his use as a official.

 _Snowbelle City Pokemon Centre_

 _Pokemon Trainer Ash V Pokemon Trainer Serena_

 _I don't want to hurt her feelings, but I don't want to lose, maybe I should go easy on her… no, she wouldn't want that, she wants to help me get better… another reason why she is so perfect._

"OK, I choose you, Noivern!" The sound wave Pokemon emerged from the light

 _OK, he's using a dragon type… I think I should use Sylveon, a fairy type, I mean Clemont did say it was powerful against dragon types._

"Come on out, Sylveon!" the fairy type entered the battlefield.

"Hey Serena, you can have the first move" Ash offered.

"Thanks, Sylveon use fairy wind!" the pokemon obliged, whipping up a powerful surge of wind, striking Noivern, pummeling it a couple of times.

"Noivern use Boomburst, then acrobatics" he responded

"Dodge it Sylveon!" Serena cried, Sylveon dodged the boomburst for a couple of seconds before being hit firstly by boomburst, then by acrobatics, sending it into the other side of the battlefield.

"Sylveon use fairy wind, then use swift into the fairy wind" it was a move reminiscent of a contest in Sinnoh or Hoenn, not something Serena would normally use in a performance but it hit and did a big heap of damage.

"Noivern! Use acrobatics and then boomburst! He called, he wanted to make Serena happy but he didn't feel that good about losing, no matter who it was against.

The move made great contact hitting Sylveon, the battling instinct in Ash told him this was the end, and commanded the finishing blow.

"Use boomburst one more time!" the move hit, Sylveon had been knocked out.

"Sylveon is unable to battle so the winner is Ash!" Clemont declared.

 _Hey, she's tough! And her determination, using moves like that was awesome_ "hey Serena, that was loads of fun, we have to do it again!"

Serena nodded, agreeing to some sporadic battles further down the line, _I'm just happy if Ash was annoyed, he seems more happy now._

 _Author's note- Thanks for reading chapter 2 of this, I don't have a title yet, and am open to suggestions, any feedback would be good, I am not used to writing in this format, so any advice would be great!_

It seems to me that this story will be long, I have planned out a good amount ahead, it's just a case of writing the thing!

 _Again, thanks for reading!_


	3. Chapter 3- A Move

_**After Serena bringing Ash back into sense and gaining his excitement and overall personality back, the group have received their Pokemon back from Nurse Joy, the group are eagerly anticipating the announcement of the location of the Kalos Pokemon League…**_

"And finally, the Kalos Pokemon League's destination has been announced, the Pokemon League Champion: Diantha has revealed the destination... Lumiose City. And with that, I have been Tom Watts reporting for Kalos T.V" the t.v blinked off, leaving the group to digest the information they had received.

"We're going home!" Bonnie exclaimed, the first to respond to the information given to the rest of the group, leading to the rest of the group to look at her blankly.

"Yes, but the Pokemon League doesn't start for another few weeks, we have quite a good amount of time left before it starts" her brother replied, attempting to calm his sister.

 _At least that means I have another month or so with Ash, but… he would leave so soon after, he won't stay in Kalos forever, I have to tell him…_

"So then, if we have a couple weeks spare, what do you guys wanna do?" Clemont asked

"Well, you guys are going to watch me battle in the league, how about you guys choose, as long as we are in Lumiose in time for the tournament, I don't mind what we do" Ash responded.

"Why don't we take the long road to Lumiose, I mean it would take a good amount of time and we could stop in Santalune City on the way over if you wanted to?" Serena offered, unaware that she was seconding Ash's idea of prolonging the trip.

"That sounds great!" Ash responded, forcing a blush from Serena.

"OK then! If we head out after lunch, we should be able to stop in Red Water on the way over, I think they have a festival on around this time of the year." Clemont informed the group.

"Yes, I think he's right" Serena confirmed, pulling out her tablet to make sure the information Clemont and her were installing into Ash and Bonnie.

"Yes, there it is, the New Moon Festival, it takes place for the 3 days during the moon cycle, it's

Specifically this month to welcome the new beginnings that come for trainers after the Pokemon League and the new challengers taking on the Kalos gym challenge." Serena informed the group.

"That sounds so cool!" Bonnie squealed, she loved festivals, especially when she wasn't at home with her parents, she didn't have to go home early, she could stay with Clemont the whole time.

Suddenly, Ash's stomach erupted, letting out a monumental noise, rivalling Noiverns. Indicating to the group that lunch was indeed what he needed, Pikachu joined in almost simultaneously mimicking his trainer.

The four of them walked over to the same table they had been at for all of their lunches since arriving at Snowbelle City, Bonnie and Serena taking the window seats with Ash and Clemont on the other two seats.

The group obtained their lunches, Serena went for a simple salad, quite the contrast to the guy she had such an immense crush on, who had decided to go for a couple of burgers and took a whole bottle of ketchup, it was something which had surprised Serena the first time she had seen Ash do this, but now, she knew that he was giving it to his best friend… Pikachu, it adored ketchup.

The conversation quickly lead to the subject of the Pokemon League, more specifically, the team Ash would use, Ash told them what he had come up with so far, he knew the first 3 rounds were 3 on 3 battles, so he created a list of the characteristics needed for his team.

"Well, there are 3 aspects I wanted…

1) Speed

2) Power

3) Defence

And I want one of my Pokemon out of the allotted 3 to have one characteristic each" he explained, despite being rather dense with emotions and such, he had come quite a way from trying to get a Krabby with a stick.

The group looked at him for a moment, waiting for more, when Bonnie asked the million dollar question; "So, what Pokemon have you decided on?" it was a good question, but Ash hadn't quite figured that out yet so looked blankly back at them.

"So you haven't decided yet? That's OK!" Serena reassured him.

As the group finished lunch, they had packed their items, and were ready to leave, when a boy pushed past Ash, shoulder barging him, causing Ash to look back in anger:

"Hey, watch where you're going!" he called out.

The boy was bigger than Ash, probably about 6'4 in height, but was built like a Rugby player, he looked down at Ash, and responded in a condescending tone;

"Oh little boy, don't act like a man, trying to impress your girlfriend? Well I would hate to embarrass you in front of her…" Ash looked at him in disgust, before replying:

"What makes you so much better than me then?" the boy laughed before showing him his badge case, eight out of eight, just like Ash, who responded by showing his badge case making the boy laugh.

"So your not so scrawny, but I would still wipe the floor with you in a battle"

"Why don't prove it then?" Ash responded, ignorant to the fact that the group had wanted to leave to get to the festival in time, but they didn't seem to mind as the trainer informed him:

"The names Joey by the way"

"I'm Ash Ketchum, I come from Pallet Town, and this is my partner Pikachu!" he responded, the others introduced themselves before Clemont offered to officiate before leading the two out to the Pokemon Centre's battle field.

"This will be a 3 on 3 Pokemon battle, the loser will be the first Trainer to lose all 3 of their Pokemon, Understood?"

Both nodded in agreement:

 _Pokemon Trainer Ash V Pokemon Trainer Joey_

"I choose you, Hawlucha!" Ash called out, knowing Hawlucha could fit two of his desired characteristics for the Pokemon League, speed and power.

"Ok, battle time… Pyroar" he called out revealing the royal Pokemon

"Sunny day!" he commanded, as the sun intensified immediately

"Hawlucha Flying press!" he commanded, making direct contact with Pyroar.

"Get up! And use solarbeam!" he commanded, the grass type move hit Hawlucha, despite being weak in type, it sent Hawlucha flying into the building, as it fell from the wall, it used all of its strength to get up.

"Yes Hawlucha! X-scissor then High jump kick!" he commanded the Pokemon flew up, smashing into the pyroar, two more direct hits.

"Pyroar use overheat and then giga impact!" Joey exclaimed as the royal Pokemon obliged, smashing into Hawlucha after burning it.

"Hawlucha, you gotta get up!" he begged, Hawlucha dragged itself up to face it's opposition, drawing a gasp from Joey.

"That flying rat should be out by now!" Joey gasped.

"Well, it was the champion of the forest" Ash smirked, knowing these words would help his friend.

"Ok, use high jump kick to kick it up, then use flying press, send it into the ground!" he commanded, Hawlucha completed the move, sending the pyroar into the sky and back down again. Wedging it into the ground.

"Use Karate chop to finish it!" Ash cried.

"Wait for Hawlucha before using overheat, take it down with you!" in a matter of seconds, the royal Pokemon obliged, striking Hawlucha with immense power, both of them collided, both of them had been taken down.

"Both Pokemon are unable to battle, so the round is a tie!" Clemont exclaimed.

"OK, let's go Garchomp!" The mach Pokemon emerged.

"OK, Goodra I choose you!" the dragon came out

"Use Ice beam!" he called, sending the ice cold beam out from it's mouth, striking into Garchomp

"That's going to be super effective, ice types have the advantage of Dragon and Ground types!" Clemont commented

 _Ash is so smart with Pokemon, he loves and cares for them, and he knows so much about them, combined with his personality and his looks, he is perfect, I just wish I knew how he felt about me!_

The beam of ice had clipped onto one of Garchomps arms, causing it some grief, but Joey didn't care, he wanted to win.

"Use draco meteor, then dragon rush!" he called, regardless of his frozen arm, the move came off perfectly, an eruption of meteor striking Goodra before being hit by the dragon rush, it was a deadly combination.

Goodra buckled, but didn't collapse.

"Come on Goodra!" Serena called from the side, Ash looked at her, letting her warm influence inspire him once more.

 _Come on, Goodra don't let me down, we gotta win, if not for me, for her!_

He looked at Serena one more time before focusing on the match.

"Dragon pulse, then ice beam!" the moves came off phenomenally, this time the ice freezing Garchomp.

"Finish it with dragon Pulse!" Ash commanded before hitting the Garchomp knocking it out!

"Garchomp is unable to battle, so the winner is Goodra!" Clemont declared

"OK, Salamence, battle stations!

The dragon Pokemon roared into life, before one command changed everything…

"Salamence, mega evolve, then hyper beam… at Ash…"

The Pokemon obeyed, mega evolving, drawing gaps from them all, before they realised the command, the hyper beam had been used hitting Ash, sending him flying into a tree.

"Let's go Salamence…" Joey told him as he flew away leaving Ash...


	4. Chapter 4- A Awakening

_**After taking the lead in a Pokemon battle against a Pokemon trainer named Joey, Ash was struck by mega Salamence's hyper beam, Joey then left Ash on the floor unconscious…**_

"Ash!" all three cried out in union as the raven haired trainer smashed onto the floor, all three rushed out to him.

"Bonnie, quickly go and get Nurse Joy!" Clemont ordered, his sister obliged, holding back the tears, she didn't want to see someone so close to her being severely injured.

"Clemont, what can we do?" Serena was flustered, she too was holding back tears, looking straight at the into the face of the boy who she cherished so dearly.

 _Ugh, where am I… what, why is it so dark, Pikachu? I'm alone, 'hello' my voice is echoing, nobody is anywhere near me, or any buildings, am I dead?_

"Over here, Nurse Joy!" Bonnie lead her over to the collapsed body of the trainer.

"What happened here?" she asked, she had never seen a trainer, or anyone in this kind of condition in all of her years working in the Pokemon centre.

"A trainer, named Joey used his mega Salamence's hyper beam on Ash" Clemont told her

Bonnie saw Serena was close to an eruption of tears, came close to her, held her hand, forcing Serena to look her in the eyes, without any sound, she hugged onto Bonnie, not letting her go for anything, it was the only thing keeping her from collapsing, despite her crush being in a close to death state, Serena was feeling much worse as the thought crept into her mind… _what if Ash died?_

Ash was carried into the Pokemon centre, and was taken into an isolated room for the immediate future, leaving Serena and Bonnie alone.

"Where did Clemont go?" Serena looked blankly at the wall whilst Bonnie's question went unanswered, even at the mention of Ash, Bonnie could feel Serena's hand get a little bit colder.

"Brother!" Bonnie exclaimed as Clemont returned.

"Sorry for the delay, I called the police, I felt it was the best thing to do." he told them coldly, not wanting more questions, although he seemed to have taken the situation into his stride, he wasn't used to being the person in charge of the group, that was left to Ash.

"What did they say?" Serena let the words fall out of her mouth, with next to no emotion.

"Officer Jenny and Wulfric will be here soon to check out the situation" he responded, noticing Serena's upset nature.

 _I should comfort both of them, they are taking it a lot harder than I am, but what if I say something wrong, I don't want to make this situation worse… I do wonder though, why does Serena seem so upset by this, Bonnie isn't even taking it_ _ **that**_ _bad I mean after the initial shock._

Serena turned to face Clemont, and blankly told him; "I can't handle this, what if Ash ca… can't be helped" the words stalled out of her mouth as she began to cry again, this time, Clemont took the initiative and pulled her in for a hug as she buried her head into his shoulder, still holding Bonnie's hand.

The group's solemn moment was abruptly broken by the arrival of Wulfric and Officer Jenny.

Through the lead of Wulfric, he took Officer Jenny over to the group of three and opened the conversation: "So it's true, he was hurt, I thought it may have been an exaggeration."

Officer Jenny gave a brief introduction before getting straight into the issue: "So this…. Joey? Attacked your friend with a hyper beam… that is one of the most serious crimes a person can commit."

"That's right ma'am" Clemont replied when Officer Jenny looked at Serena and gained a vague understanding

"OK then I will need an individual statement from all of you, how about you first Serena"

Serena nodded and followed Officer Jenny into a side room of the Pokemon centre.

"So, please describe the attacker, take your time… I have tissues if you need them, if it gets too much, tell me and we can stop, I don't want to force you to go to far, I can see he means a lot to you."

Serena looked blankly at the police officer, had she been too obvious, but she had to keep strong, if anything for Ash.

"He had a similar build to Wulfric actually, but was younger, probably my age, and with red hair" she blurted out to the officer.

"OK, can you tell me the incident in detail?" With a deep breathe, Serena began:

"Well, he bumped into Ash as we were about to leave the Pokemon Centre, then he insulted me and Ash, when Ash challenged him to a Pokemon Battle, Ash was winning when he mega evolved his Salamence then… then he used hyper beam but it… it was on Ash, when the attack hit, he fled!" Officer Jenny pulled her into a hug, she could tell that Ash meant a lot to this girl, maybe, just maybe more than a friend… but it was probably best not to push that idea any further.

"OK, that's all I need from you, could you send in Bonnie please" Serena nodded and called Bonnie over and held the door for her to walk in.

"Look, now that Bonnie's gone, I think I need to tell you something." Wulfric began, as both of the trainers looked at him.

"I know who you're talking about, he challenged my gym, and… well he destroyed me, his Salamence took down all 3 of my Pokemon without me getting a hit on it, it was simply too powerful for me and indeed several other gym leaders" he told them.

"So how do we catch him?" Serena asked, hoping for some good news.

"Unfortunately, I don't think we can, Ash is the only person who I have seen take down any of this boy's Pokemon" Wulfric thought it would be best to tell the truth rather than get their hopes up.

Officer Jenny came out with Bonnie and told them; "We are done, I have all the details I need, I'm going to head back to the station and see what we can do" she told them…

" _Help!" it's just not going to work, I need to get back to them, this_ _ **can't be the end!**_ _I can't leave yet, I still have to become a Pokemon Master! Joey can't get away with this, I won't let him, I'm not giving up until it's over!_

He shot up with a jolt of energy, scaring Nurse Joy senseless.

"Oh my Ash!" she cried out, bringing the group into the room to see him up on his bed, Serena couldn't help herself, she ran up to him gripping him, with the grip of a vice grip move, hugging him as tightly as she could, she wouldn't let him go again…

Nurse Joy asked them to leave so she could run some tests on Ash, Clemont called Wulfric back telling him Ash was awake.

A couple of hours later, Wulfric got to speak to Ash for the first time since their rematch.

"This Joey character is strong, to be frank, I'm impressed you beat him" he told Ash, hoping the ego boost would help, which it certainly did.

After telling Ash about their gym battle and Officer Jenny's investigation, Ash came up with a plan…

"If you can't beat him, he's got to be strong enough to enter the Pokemon League, so I say, let me beat him, if he's so great and I beat him, we should meet in the final! After that, he will be unable to stop you from arresting him!" Ash's mind was racing at lightspeed ignoring all of the risks involved when Wulfric brought him back to Earth with a powerful reality check.

"What if he takes the low road and uses another move on you, you were lucky this time, but take a moment to think what would happen to your friends and family if you were killed on live t.v because you wanted to win!"

Ash took a moment, before pulling a toothy grin, "I won't let it happen, trust me I have a plan!"

"I shouldn't have given you that ego boost!" Wulfric laughed, he knew Ash wouldn't stop now, from his limited experience, he knew this boy was gutsy.

And with that, Wulfric told Officer Jenny his plan, which she wasn't happy with but knew this boy was realistically their only chance of catching the culprit without summoning external help.

"Hey guys, sorry for making you all worry!" Ash called out, as Pikachu re asserted his position on Ash's shoulder as he lead the group out of the Pokemon centre onto the road again…

 _I've got it, I will tell Serena my feelings during the moon festival, it would be perfect, the fireworks, the food!_

"Come on guys, the moon festival won't wait for us!" Ash called as he began to run to their next destination...


	5. Chapter 5- A Confession of Love

_**Upon the awakening of Ash, the group alongside Snowbelle City gym leader Wulfric and Officer Jenny devised a plan to capture Ash's attacker: Joey at the Pokemon League in Lumiose city…**_

"Hurry up everyone, we're going to miss the festival" Bonnie cried as she ran ahead looking back impatiently at Ash, Serena and Clemont

"Bonnie, we are going to be there with a couple of hours to spare and have you forgotten Ash isn't at full strength yet, it wouldn't be wise to rush!" her brother; Clemont replied causing his sister to pout but ultimately understand the situation and come back to the group.

 _Tonight's the night, I'm going to tell Serena everything, I have to, I can't hide it from her anymore, she deserves to know how I feel about her, I owe it to her..._

"Welcome one and all to Red Water's annual new moon festival, I hope you all have a good night, try out the food and stay to watch the fireworks later on tonight!" a man Ash assumed to be mayor spoke, addressing the crowd of around 300.

"Hey Clemont, do you mind if I can have a quick word with you… in private?" Ash asked, Clemont agreed and followed Ash behind a tent.

"What's up Ash?" he asked

"Can you keep Bonnie away from me and Serena tonight please?"

Clemont's face burned red, _what had his sister done this time_ "Sure Ash, but can I ask why?"

"Erm, I want to talk to Serena about… about my feelings" he blushed as he explained this to his friend, causing a mixture of shock but excitement for Clemont.

"OK, Ash you can count on me!" he exclaimed, before calling out his sister to keep away from the pair as Ash walked over to Serena…

"Hey Serena, Bonnie wanted to go and do something with Clemont so I thought that we could go and look at some stuff you know?"

 _Me and Ash alone! I have dreamt of this, ever since the pledging tree, OK, calm down Serena, don't mess this up._

The pair walked around for a while, playing the various games that the festival had to offer, before Ash lead Serena to the clearing where the fireworks were about to begin, when they heard an announcement;

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we apologise for the delay, there is an unexpected issue with the fireworks, we should have them fixed in about 20 minutes, sorry once again, as compensation, we will be offering free Pokemon food to all trainers in the area"

Ash and Serena followed the other trainers into a pen where they let their Pokemon dig into the free food when the cage suddenly slammed shut…

"What happened?" Ash asked Serena

"Prepare for trouble"

"And make it double"

"To protect the world from devastation"

"To unite all peoples within our nation"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love"

"To extend our reach to the stars above"

"Jessie"

"James"

"Team rocket blast off at the speed of light"

"Surrender now or prepare to fight"

"Meowth that's right!"

"Team Rocket!" Ash called out to nobody in particular as the balloon began to lift off, Ash knew he had to do something, so he ran and held onto the cage as the balloon rose above the buildings

"So Bonnie, have you had enough fun, it's getting rather late" Clemont asked

"No, I wanna go with Ash and Serena, what are they doing?" she asked

"I don't know, but Ash wanted privacy, and after all he does for us, he deserves a little space when he needs it, OK" Clemont was getting more and more agitated at his sister

"Is that… team Rocket's balloon?" Clemont remarked, breaking the silence, as he saw the balloon rising up into the sky he began to run at his slow pace, going towards the balloon

"Clemont!" Serena called as he arrived and sent out Luxray;

"Use swift on the balloon!" he commanded, the stars struck the balloon, popping it bringing the cage down to the ground as the balloon plopped down onto the floor infront of everyone as Ash turned to see his pokemon come back to him

"I have had enough of you, Greninja use water shuriken, Pikachu use thunderbolt!" he commanded;

"Ha you twerp, time for a surprise! Go; Trevenant!" James called out

"Use phantom force!" he called, the move struck Pikachu, knocking him to the floor

"Greninja, use cut!" he called, the move hit and damaged the opposition badly, despite being a strong Pokemon, it wasn't at it's full potential, Ash took advantage;

"Pikachu, thunderbolt!" he called, in typical fashion Pikachu hit the thieves sending them;

"We are blasting off again!" they called.

 _They ruined everything, I was going to tell, her, maybe I can tell her later… I got it!_

He walked up to Serena, whispered in her ear;

"Meet me behind the Pokemon centre at midnight"

Serena blushed as her crush asked to see her later that night.

"Hey Ash, what did you want?" Serena asked walking over in her night clothes.

"Serena, I… I wanted to tell you that… that I like you… more than that, I… I think that I l...ove you" he looked into Serena's eyes, she began to cry as Ash began to get worried.

"So you don't feel the same?" Ash asked, suddenly feeling sick

"No, I feel the same way, I love you too!" she responded, crying tears of joy as Ash held her hand before bringing in for a hug.

"So what now?" Serena asked

"I guess I call you my girlfriend now?" he responded

"OK then, boyfriend" she teased back before being pulled in for a kiss from her new boyfriend, as his hand went behind her neck and her waist, as he kissed her lips

"Do you want to tease me any more?" Ash responded, both of them felt weightless, before heading back to the Pokemon centre for sleep, although they wanted to stay together, the gender segregated rooms meant they couldn't and slept the night away.


	6. Chapter 6- Spreading the news

_**After a night of truths, Ash and Serena finally confessed their feelings for each other, agreeing to call each other boy/girlfriend respectively, one issue still remained, who would they inform of their relationship, and how would they do it…**_

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"Clemont, where are Ash and Serena, she came back late last night, and she was really happy about something, I hope she's OK?" Bonnie quizzed her brother.

The pair were eating breakfast, like Bonnie, Clemont had noticed Ash coming in late and very happy, and assumed he had told her his feelings for Serena but wanted to let Ash tell the group as a whole and not get Bonnie too excited.

"Well, I guess they wanted some extra sleep besides if Serena came in happy, why wouldn't she be OK?" Bonnie just slumped down, her brother was right which annoyed her.

XXXXXXXXXX

"So, how do you want to break it to Clemont and Bonnie?" Ash asked his new girlfriend.

"Well, Bonnie kinda knows already" Serena replied, blushing heavily hoping her boyfriend wouldn't be too annoyed

"What? How?" he enquired, slightly annoyed by the sudden information.

"You know how she is, she kinda guessed I had a crush on you, I don't know if she knows we are a couple yet, but don't be surprised, she is really good with romance and that kind of stuff"

"Know that you mention it, Clemont may also have suspicions, I told him last night I had feelings for you, I was going to tell you during the fireworks but team Rocket stopped that"

"OK, how do we tell them, they may have suspicions, but I mean Pikachu doesn't even know yet! So how could we expect those two to fully know" Ash replied, forcing annoyance from his girlfriend:

"Ash, Pikachu's your best friend, you have to tell him first!" she scalded him, provoking him to get Pikachu so the pair could tell him

The electric mouse came out on Ash's shoulder neither of them were sure how to tell Pikachu their decision when Serena broke the ice:

"Ash, he's your best friend, we should just be straight out with him" drawing a confused look from Pikachu.

"OK, buddy, well… Serena and I have erm… well we have figured out that we… we _**love**_ each other" Pikachu looked shocked before nodding and jumping onto Serena's shoulder;

"Pika Pi!" it cried, Ash explained;

"I guess he gives us his blessing!" he laughed of the situation"

"Really Pikachu?" the mouse nodded "that means so much to me!" she hugged the mouse before tickling behind it's ear, making it even more happy as the pair headed down for breakfast.

Ash spent breakfast like normal with one exception, his hand was intertwined with Serena's they were going to tell them after breakfast, Ash could feel Serena's hand wobble with nerves, when Bonnie ruined the surprise;

"Why are you holding hands? Serena did you ask him out?" the pair blushed, more so for Serena but Ash covered her:

"Well, we were going to tell you after we had all finished, but you found us out, me and Serena… well we are a couple now" he explained drawing a yelp from Bonnie as she turned to Serena;

"So you did tell him!" she cried, glad for her friend despite seeing her as more of a sister she never had.

"Well actually… I told her my feelings" Ash interrupted making Bonnie giggle;

"But Ash, you're kinda super dense, how did you know she had the same feelings" she asked, despite seeming a rude inference, Ash understood the innocence of the question and that she could still see her point, despite not wanting to admit it.

"Well, I didn't I just went for it and got it off my chest, thankfully Serena felt the same way" he laughed off the question.

"So my hypothesis was correct!" Clemont exclaimed after regaining his composure, the couple laughed at his nervousness, nevertheless, he continued; "Have you told your parents, they would want to know" the couple looked at each other, it was a demon that would have to be tamed eventually.

"I guess we will have to do it right away, it would be worse to wait, right Serena!" Ash pulled off his toothy grin, Serena didn't feel the same way.

"What if they don't agree with us?" She asked, her worry was obvious to all 3 people sharing the table with her took note, when Ash pulled her in for a hug, he noticed she buried her head into his shoulder, almost in a protecting manor.

"It will be fine, our parents will love it!" he assured her as he ran his hands through her hair trying to calm her down, it worked to an extent.

The group packed their items, as Ash finished, he knocked on the girls door, where Clemont let him in;

"You guys ready?" he looked at Serena, packing her items in the most orderly fashion, out of all the girls he had travelled with, Serena was so much better then all of them, Ash began to realise just how lucky he was, Misty or May would rush to pack all of their clothes, Dawn would do the same, Iris… well the less said about her the better. _I'm not a 'little kid' anymore!_

Serena eventually finished packing, Ash took, her to the two videophones that weren't being used, both of them held hands, as each took one screen to tell their parents, Ash managed to get through first;

"Hi Mum!" he exclaimed;

"Are you OK? You don't normally call out of the blue like this, what happened?" She was concerned for her son, before noticing Ash's hand was being held, just to the bottom of the screen, she was sure of it;

"Whose hand are you holding?" the words shocked both Ash and Serena, Ash remained calm, Serena almost had a heart attack as Ash explained;

"That's what I was calling about… Serena and I are a couple…" he was interrupted at the word couple;

"Ash, I'm so proud of you! Serena? Why does that name ring a bell?"

"She went to Professor Oak's Pokemon summer camp when we were kids!" his enthusiasm unmatched.

"Oh, the straw hat girl, Grace's girl!" she remembered the girl who was sent there to get used to Pokemon so she could race Rhyhorn.

"You remember that! Yes it's the same girl!" Ash confirmed, Delia squealed as Ash motioned for her to move over to his screen.

"Wow Ash, she's very pretty! It's been a long time Serena, are you still racing Rhyhorn?"

"No, Mrs Ketchum, I stopped to become a Pokemon Performer" she was worried, she felt as if Delia was staring straight through her.

"There is no need to call me with such formalities, call me Delia, please I insist" This was getting a little too much for her, Ash noticed this and finished the call off, when Delia called;

"Look after Ash please, you know how reckless he can be!" she called as the screen went blank.

Almost in perfect time, Serena's mum; Grace appeared on the opposing screen;

"Hi Serena, how have you been doing?" she asked;

"I'm great mum… there is something I wanted to tell you… me and Ash are… are a couple now" provoking a similar reaction to Delia, Grace was very enthusiastic about their relationship.

"That is amazing Serena, where is he now?" she asked as Serena pulled Ash onto the screen

"Hi Ash… Serena tells me you two are a couple now"

"Yes, that's right" he responded, with more than enough enthusiasm to prove his point.

"That's wonderful news, take care of my little girl please Ash"

"Of course, she means everything to me!" he replied as the call ended and the group exited the Pokemon centre, Serena nestled under Ash's shoulder resting her arm around Ash's back, as Pikachu nestled on Ash's opposing shoulder...


	7. Chapter 7- A kiss

_**After admitting to their friends and mothers, Serena and Ash have finally become a couple, as the group walked through the pathways to Santalune city, a sudden storm forced the group to take refuge in a nearby Pokemon Centre…**_

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

"So then, I guess that you two will want to room with each other?" Clemont asked looking back at Ash and Serena, who hadn't let go of each other's hands since they had told their mothers of their new relationship, everything was going well until the storm.

"Yeah, if it isn't a issue for you or Bonnie, we don't want to impose any difficulty on you two" Serena replied, she would _love_ to be able to room with her boyfriend but knew they might find it a bit uncomfortable to leave those two together

"I don't mind!" Bonnie chimed in, the pair looked to Clemont who nodded and admitted;

"I guess it wouldn't be an issue" the couple were elated, thanked the lumiose twins and told them that they would go and settle in before meeting for food a couple of hours later, as the pair of them headed to their rooms, as soon as Clemont and Bonnie went into their rooms, Ash swept Serena off her feet and carried her into their room, in a bridal style, causing her to squeal in joy.

They entered the room, Ash put her down on the bed, they noticed that Clemont had gotten them a double bed, not two singles, neither of them seemed to mind the minor change to their normal room, they were both tired, it had been a long day of walking through the route, but both were hungry so they decided to pass the time by learning more about each other, Serena began;

"So, one question I have always had for you… why do you never bring some of your old Pokemon back, like you tell us all these stories, why not use some of your most Pokemon?"

"Well… I was planning to use some of them this time, but I guess I owe it to the Pokemon I meet on my journey to use them for the leagues, I use them for the gym battles"

 _He has such respect for his Pokemon, could I ever do that if I was in his place, I would just want to use my best team…_

"Speaking of using them again, have you decided what teams you're going to use?"

"I have a good idea, but there is one spot left and I'm undecided, maybe you could help, I would love to hear your input!" he gave her a toothy grin to reassure her

"Well, what's the issue you are having?" she asked, secretly giddy that her boyfriend wanted her idea for a battling team

"Well, the idea I had already for the 3 vs 3's were

Greninja (Speed)

Charizard (Attack)

Snorlax (Defence and Attack)

And my second team;

Pikachu (Speed and Attack)

Sceptile (Attack)

And then I'm stuck with defence, I could use; Donphan, Krookodile, Goodra or Torterra" he was clearly in between choices, as Serena offered her idea;

"Well, if you want to keep faithful to the Pokemon who have been with you during the Kalos gym challenge why not go for Goodra, and it's really strong!" she gave her opinion, Ash pondered it before giving a toothy grin

"That's it, thanks Serena!" he pulled her in and gave her a passionate kiss, Serena was a little flustered but after a second or two she joined in, kissing him just as passionately.

Ash stood up, and remembered that Serena had been so into his League, he hadn't talked about her goals, one thing stood in his mind and he decided to nail it head on;

"So" he said jumping back onto the bed next to Serena "what are you planning to do after the League? Kalos queen?"

"Erm, I haven't really decided yet, I would love to go travelling some time!" Ash pulled her in hugged her and said;

"Well, if you wanna go travelling, I happen to be rather good at that, maybe we could go together? I would love to see some new Pokemon!" he exclaimed

"Really! I wouldn't have it any other way! But what if you win the Kalos league?" she asked nervous for any truths that could hurt her idea but he shut those fears down rather quickly;

"Well, the Elite four would have to wait a while!" he kissed her cheek as she began to cry a little, making Ash a little worried;

"What's the matter?" he asked.

"It's just that you're willing to wait on your dream to be with me, it makes me so happy!"

The pair spent the next couple of hours talking, Pikachu however began to get bored, and shocked Ash to remind him he was there and indeed it was close to dinner.

"Sorry buddy, I was just a little busy talking to my wonderful girlfriend! I'll get you a bottle of ketchup to make up for it OK?" the mouse jumped onto his shoulder and squealed, presumably a 'yes'

The pair met up with Clemont and Bonnie for dinner, whilst Ash and Clemont went to get their food ordered, Bonnie began to tease Serena;

"So did you kiss? Or did you just talk? Or more?" she was only young but she had a very adult sense of romance, Serena blushed and explained;

"Of course we kissed, but I helped with Ash's team for the Kalos league if you must know" Bonnie was annoyed, she only teased Serena because she saw her as a big sister and enjoyed getting a rise out of her but when Serena didn't it annoyed her.

Clemont and Ash returned with food, which the group dug into as Ash explained his decisions for a team, leading to Clemont asking if he wanted to train which of course Ash was more than happy to do.

After their meal, Ash, Bonnie, Clemont and Serena headed out to the battlefield, Serena was asked to officiate, which gave Bonnie another opportunity to tease her;

"So are you going to cheat so your boyfriend can win?" she asked, Ash laughed and carried on to the battlefield;

"You wanna d Clemont?" Ash asked, Clemont obliged and Serena began to officiate;

"This will b 1battle the winner will be the person who loses both of their Pokemon!"

 _Pokemon Trainer Ash V Gym Leader Clemont;_

"Hey buddy you want to start?" Pikachu nodded, Clemont replied;

"Ok, Luxray, your up!" his Pokemon emerged

"Pikachu use iron tail!" the move was quick, Luxray couldn't move fast enough making Ash think to himself _that's why Pikachu is good for both attack and speed!_

"Swift Luxray!" he commanded the move never misses, and struck Pikachu pushing him down to the ground

"Buddy, you OK?" he asked, the mouse jumped up to it's feet and chirped happily 'Pika'

"OK, use Volt tackle!" the mouse flew at Luxray hitting it back to the floor.

"Luxray use Electro ball!" he commanded, the move caught Ash and the others off guard, they weren't expecting Luxray to have a new move, but Ash adjusted quickly.

"Pikachu Iron tail the ball back at Luxray, then follow through with iron tail before using thunderbolt!" the combination was devastating Luxray being directly hit all three times, knocking it out

"The winner is Ash and Pikachu!" she declared before running into his arms and kissing him in front of Bonnie for the first time.

"Hey Ash, you're looking in great shape for the Pokemon League" a voice called, Ash turned around, expecting it to be Clemont, but the male voice belonged to someone else...


	8. Chapter 8- Breaking what is loved

_**After avoiding a storm, the group headed to a Pokemon centre, after they had eaten decided to have a practice match, Ash vs Clemont, after Ash had won, a man approached the group, interrupting them…**_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The group turned to the man who had interrupted them, and quickly knew who it was; Professor Sycamore

"Hey you guys, Ash you never told me you had a girlfriend… Oh it's Serena, sorry, with your haircut from behind I couldn't recognise you" he went red with embarrassment, he did give this girl her starter, now he couldn't recognise her.

Serena nodded in understanding, it had been awhile since she had last seen him.

"What are you doing here?" Ash asked, trying not to intrude

"Well, know that you say that, I am headed into the frosty cavern just a little bit up north, I have heard there are lots of mega stones and mega evolution energy has been recorded in surplus, so I am going to see what I can find, especially if there is any chance for research, I would be most impressed.

"Wow! That's so cool! Can we go to? Please?" Bonnie was jumping up and down in sync with Dedenne as Sycamore gave a laugh and agreed

"Of course, it would give us more chance to find something! If you do happen to find a mega stone or something of similar importance, I will gladly give you a keystone to help you mega evolve!"

The group looked at each other in sheer awe, the proposition that had been given to them was a great one, but they were all eager to join in and help where they could.

XXXXXXXXXXX

As the group arrived into the cave, they all followed Sycamore through the opening of the cave, until they heard a rumbling in the distance, Serena clung onto Ash's shoulder, Ash held onto his girlfriend, holding her tightly, he knew she didn't like scary noises.

As soon as Ash had calmed her down to a reasonable level, a horde of Yanmega swooped around the group causing Serena to get really upset, her boyfriend tried to calm her down;

"It's OK, I won't let any Pokemon go near you other than Pikachu!" he calmed her down, when a Gallade teleported out of nowhere, grabbed onto Serena and teleported away…

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"Where am I?" she was in a much colder environment, when a voice called out to her;

"So then Ash, we meet again" the voice was a cold male one, Serena vaguely recognised it, the figure moved out of the dark, covered by a mask, a tall and burly man, examined his prey and realised his error;

"Damn, I got the girlfriend!" Oh well, he cares about her, so I can break her instead!

The man called out his Gallade and instructed; "Beat her down, not dead, but make sure she is in complete agony" Serena cried out for help;

"Ash! Anyone!" The Gallade's arm glowed white before hitting her several times, knocking her out, the figure watched the beating before stepping up to the body of the girl;

"For how scrawny he is, he picked up a girl miles out of his league!" He picked up her arm, and snapped it...

XXXXXXX

Author's note- I wanted to try out a smaller '.5' of a chapter, to almost set the scene for the next part, if anyone thinks it's a crappy idea, I will gladly go back to the normal formats, I just wanted to try something new!

Thanks for the support! Sorry for the cliffhanger.


	9. Chapter 9- A Beating

_**After encountering Professor Sycamore, the group headed into the frosty cavern, upon entering, Serena was abducted by a Gallade, upon coming to her senses, she was beaten by a mysterious man and his Gallade, before snapping her arm…**_

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Serena!" Ash cried as his girlfriend had been taken from his side, _who would do this?_

Ash began to run into the darkness, when a firm grip held him back from chasing Gallade into the shadows;

"Calm down Ash, getting lost wouldn't help the situation!" Sycamore calmed him down, whilst Clemont devised a plan;

"Ash, use Noivern to sense where Serena is, I'll use Luxray to use its vision to see her!" his ideas were normally lots better than his inventions so the group agreed and sent out their Pokemon to help their search

"Go Noivern!"

"Go Luxray!"

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"Ah, you're awake" he smirked watching his victim awake, doused in blood.

"Why are you doing this?" Serena coughed up, followed by a little blood, looking at her attacker, the identity of her attacker struck her, nevertheless he began explaining his reasoning;

"Well, seeing as you decided to go out with that _runt_ his problems are your problems, you get what you deserve" his voice was colder than what Serena remembered before hand, he walked up to her, began to stroke her face, looking into her eyes reminded her;

"You are nothing, right now, you are my plaything, I can do to you whatever I want, you can't change that" he laughed as Serena began to cry, her upset was interrupted by a voice she never thought she would hear again;

"Garchomp, use dragon pulse!" Sycamore exclaimed

"Gallade, Protect me" the man commanded, before quickly writing a note, slipped it in her pocket, pulled her up, kissing her, before smacking her face, kicked her and commanded;

"Gallade, teleport me from these idiots!" the Pokemon took the man away from the impeding Garchomp, allowing Sycamore to call the rest of the group to Serena's aid.

She had been battered, by both human and Pokemon, leaving her in a terrible condition, to the surprise of Clemont, her legs had been relatively unscathed, when Ash saw her she coldly told him;

"It was Joey, I'm sure of it, he wanted you…" the words stumbled out of her mouth in a stream of blood, as Serena reached into her pocket and pulled out the note, and handed it to Ash;

 _Runt;_

 _I know of your plan with the Pokemon League, I don't mind playing your games, because I know I will beat you, ask Wulfric. You were lucky your skank of a girlfriend was taken instead of you._

 _Your Master._

Ash could feel his blood boil, as he put the note in his pocket, before helping his girlfriend up, he had let her down...

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Seeing the response to the previous part, I have decided that the following parts will be back to the old length, this is just a follow on from the previous point to align with my plan for the story

As always, thanks for reading!


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